The Steppe Arena ( mn, Степпе Арена), is an indoor

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

arena in

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar (; mn, Улаанбаатар, , "Red Hero"), previously anglicized as Ulan Bator, is the capital and most populous city of Mongolia. It is the coldest capital city in the world, on average. The municipality is located in north ce ...

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

. The ice rink is built per proposed standards from the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

which provides the opportunity to host both international and continental games.

Construction

The

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 m ...

met with Mongolian President

Khaltmaagiin Battulga Khaltmaagiin Battulga (; mn, Халтмаагийн Баттулга, Haltmaagiin Battulga, , also referred to as Battulga Khaltmaa; born 3 March 1963) is a Mongolian politician and sambo wrestler who served as the 5th President of Mongolia fr ...

in 2018 to discuss on the possibility of building an ice rink in Mongolia. The groundbreaking ceremony for the Steppe Arena on 14 April 2019 was led by Puntsagiin Tsagaan, founder and chairman of the Board of Steppe Arena LLC, and President Battulga. Construction progress amidst the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and later opened in a ceremony led by President

Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh (, ; born 14 June 1968), also referred to as Khürelsükh Ukhnaa, is the 6th and current president of Mongolia, beginning his term on June 25, 2021 after winning the 2021 Mongolian presidential election. He was prime mi ...

on 29 September 2021.

Architecture and design

In 2018, Steppe Arena LLC launched a project to build an indoor ice hockey rink in country as their first project. They tasked local firm Anagram LLC to work on the architectural plan of the indoor arena and they were aided by the Embassy of Canada in Mongolia who provided connections with architects who were experienced in building similar large-scale sports facility. Steppe Arena LLC signed cooperation memorandums with Canadian firms DA Architecture Limited and HDR , CEI Architecture Associates to help them work on the project allowing the design team to study ice rinks of varying scale in Canada. One of the factors considered in designing the arena is Mongolia's extreme climate, which can get as cold as in the winter and as hot as in the summer. The Mongolian architects who worked on the building preferred a modern design for the arena and did not want to draw inspiration from historical references such as the country's yurts. The structure did incorporate indigenous influence such as Mongolian traditional-style pillars.

Facilities

The Steppe Arena has a seating capacity of 2,600 and usable area of . It has five changing rooms for athletes and referees and meeting rooms which can accommodate 80 to 100 people. The ice field inside has a dimension of .

References

External links

* {{coord missing, Mongolia Buildings and structures in Ulaanbaatar Ice hockey venues in Mongolia Indoor arenas in Mongolia Sports venues completed in 2021